


Against Inevitability

by latecamellia (caramarie)



Series: Against Inevitability and other stories [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - ATEEZ Music Videos, Answer MV, M/M, Say My Name MV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramarie/pseuds/latecamellia
Summary: Wooyoung reaches out for the other Yeosang.(A music video-based AU.)
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang
Series: Against Inevitability and other stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024317
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Against Inevitability

The first deal they make is at the museum, and it is this: _our_ Yeosang is set free, and _they_ get to walk away.

There will be other deals to come. But maybe what the success of this one comes down to is that Wooyoung, while negotiating, reaches out for the other Yeosang. Touches his hand, in emphasis of his sincerity, because he has forgotten for a moment that this isn’t his Yeosang. Which means that this Yeosang can forget, for a moment, that this isn’t his Wooyoung either.

And maybe the gesture softens the shell that they would form against each other otherwise. They’re enemies, after all. The one should remain heartless where the other is concerned.

 _Should_ remain heartless. By Wooyoung’s fingers on Yeosang’s skin, they do not.

***

Later, Wooyoung is talking to his Yeosang. ‘He was like you,’ he says, ‘but there was something wrong with him. You could tell.’ He touches a hand to his chest. ‘Like he had ice in his heart.’

Wooyoung slides his gaze over to Yeosang, who says nothing. Wooyoung has a theory, but he’s not sure whether Yeosang might take it the wrong way.

‘But, you know, I still felt like I knew him,’ he goes on. ‘Like, you could become him, or he could become you.’

‘And he knew you?’

Wooyoung nods.

‘See, I saw you, but I wasn’t sure if you knew me or not. Or even registered me.’

‘He would have known you,’ Wooyoung says. ‘Even if it didn’t show.’

Yeosang’s eyes change – soften, like he’s grateful to Wooyoung for saying it. For some reason it makes Wooyoung feel more insecure, not less.

‘You won’t become him, right?’ Wooyoung says. And he takes Yeosang’s hand in his, suddenly, urgently, the same way he had taken that other Yeosang’s hand. Yeosang’s eyes widen, and Wooyoung sees the moment he realises what Wooyoung is suggesting.

‘You don’t just think it’s another us,’ Yeosang says. ‘You think that we … become them?’

Wooyoung doesn’t want to say yes, but Yeosang can read it on his face anyway. He always reads Wooyoung’s thoughts so easily.

Maybe, then, the other Wooyoung has got better at hiding himself from him.

‘That’s a disturbing thought,’ Yeosang says, and he looks away from Wooyoung then, and does not clasp his hand in return.

Wooyoung withdraws. ‘That’s all it is,’ he says, ‘just a thought.’

And he doesn’t know whether sharing it makes it more or less likely to be true.

***

They’re at an old hotel when they make the next deal – a more permanent one this time, because now they have a common enemy. They break bread together, swear oaths, and afterwards, once they’ve retired for the evening, Wooyoung goes to Yeosang’s room.

Not _his_ Yeosang’s room. The other Yeosang’s room.

Yeosang doesn’t open up right away. Maybe he’s checking Wooyoung out through the peephole, deciding just how far this newfound trust between them stretches. Maybe he’s not there, and Wooyoung’s going to wait around in the hall for nothing.

The door opens.

Yeosang is still dressed all in black, but he’s not wearing his hat. How, Wooyoung thinks, is he meant to tell the difference between them if he’s not wearing a hat? There is no difference between them.

Yeosang raises his eyebrows, and he waits for Wooyoung to speak.

‘You know I thought you were from the future,’ Wooyoung says. He knows now this isn’t true, but he says it anyway.

Yeosang looks him up and down. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Can I come in?’

Yeosang makes way for him, and Wooyoung enters the room, taking a seat without being invited. Yeosang shuts the door behind him. It’s not to cut off his escape route though – more like giving themselves privacy. Yeosang takes the chair beside Wooyoung’s, sitting on the end of it like he might need to jump up at any moment.

In another room, Wooyoung knows, is the other Wooyoung. And this Yeosang has a whole relationship with him that Wooyoung doesn’t know. Is it a betrayal of his own Yeosang, Wooyoung wonders, to be here like this?

Wooyoung wets his lips. ‘When we met before ...’

‘I remember,’ Yeosang says. The two of them sound exactly the same, and it distracts Wooyoung from what he was going to say.

‘This is so weird,’ he says instead.

Yeosang smiles a little, then. You wouldn’t be able to see it, if he were wearing the mask and had the hat pulled down low. Maybe that’s the reason they dress like they do.

‘Why do you all dress like that?’ he asks

The question startles Yeosang.

‘It’s like we’ve all joined a cult.’

‘It is _not_ ,’ Yeosang says. ‘Why’re you wearing that jacket?’

‘Cos it’s cool,’ Wooyoung says.

‘Is it?’

‘Well –’ Wooyoung pretends to pick at his sleeve – ‘if you’re from another world and not the future, I guess you might not know what’s cool and what’s not.’

‘I didn’t realise you came here to talk about clothes,’ Yeosang says.

He didn’t. But he’s not ready to admit that just yet. ‘Well, what do you and him talk about? You can’t say _you_ don’t talk about clothes – your hats all match.’

‘They’re regulation,’ Yeosang says drily, ‘from when we signed up to the cult.’

Wooyoung laughs. It’s reassuring, that this Yeosang can make him laugh too.

‘What’s he like?’ Wooyoung asks.

Yeosang doesn’t answer right away.

‘Do you want to know good things or bad things?’ he says. His eyes are very intense; that’s true for either of them. ‘Maybe we wouldn’t even agree on which was which.’

‘Maybe we wouldn’t,’ Wooyoung says. His mouth has gone dry suddenly. ‘Maybe what I mean is ... do you like him?’

Yeosang looks at him. Then, slowly, he says, ‘What has that got to do with anything?’

‘Because …’ Wooyoung’s voice becomes a mumble. ‘I’m not sure our Yeosang likes me any more.’

Yeosang seems to consider that. ‘Then you probably did something to deserve it.’

‘Ouch,’ Wooyoung says. ‘Yeah, he’d probably say that too.’

Again, there is a flicker of a smile on Yeosang’s face. Wooyoung shifts forward on his seat, closer to him.

‘So maybe,’ Yeosang says, ‘you should be asking him and not me?’

Wooyoung wants to laugh. The idea of asking Yeosang this seems pathetic – Wooyoung should _know_. He’s known Yeosang for long enough that he should be able to know the answer without having to ask. Should be able to believe it.

‘Maybe,’ Wooyoung says. ‘But you and I, we don’t have the same baggage. Or –’ he frowns – ‘you and him. But I’m guessing you do, because you haven’t given me a straight answer.’

Yeosang looks away. ‘It’s not exactly relevant any more, is it?’

‘Isn’t it?’

Yeosang shrugs. ‘You live or die together,’ he says. ‘ _Liking_ doesn’t come into it.’

And that, Wooyoung supposes, is his answer. As in their own world, as in all. It doesn’t matter whether he and Yeosang even like each other any more; they’re stuck together anyway.

Still. ‘That doesn’t apply to us though, does it?’

‘What?’

‘It’s not irrelevant to the you and me who are here in this room right now.’

Yeosang looks back at him then. Wooyoung tries not to shy from it.

‘Wooyoung,’ Yeosang says, ‘are you hitting on me?’

The way he says it makes Wooyoung laugh. He wishes he could hear his Yeosang speak to him in the same way. Without baggage.

‘That depends,’ Wooyoung says. ‘Are you going to kick me out if I say yes?’

Yeosang turns pink then, but he doesn’t look away. ‘I won’t kick you out,’ he says, ‘if you do.’

***

Maybe he’s just a substitute to this Yeosang. Maybe the same goes the other way around. Or maybe it’s just that they’re unfamiliar enough, familiar enough with each other to take this chance. Wooyoung would never dare otherwise.

Things will probably be awkward in the morning, but Wooyoung thinks he can live with that.


End file.
